Chapter 40: One hundred taels of silver for true

love After dinner, Jiang Ning put on her veil again and walked slowly along the street with Liu Mingan.

It was lunchtime, and there were fewer people on the street, but the restaurants on both sides were crowded, and the waiters were busy.

"How much did you make today?" Jiang Ning asked Liu Mingan.

"I sold four paintings and wrote twenty-one letters." Liu Mingan calculated and answered truthfully: "A total of five hundred and thirty coins, almost half a tael of silver."

Jiang Ning nodded after hearing the answer, without saying anything, with a thoughtful look on her face, and even slowed down her pace.

Liu Mingan was about to ask Jiang Ning what was wrong, but she suddenly grabbed her sleeve and pulled her into an empty alley next to her.

"Jiang Ning, you--" Before he could finish his words, a wooden box appeared in front of Liu Ming'an. He didn't know where Jiang Ning took it out from.

"What is this?" Liu Ming'an was puzzled.

"I'm giving it to you," Jiang Ning said, "Open it and have a look."

Liu Ming'an was hesitant, took the box, and when he opened it, the pile of gold and silver inside almost dazzled his eyes.

"Snap!"

Liu Ming'an quickly closed the lid, and in a hurry, he stretched out his hand and pulled Jiang Ning to walk a few steps deeper into the alley. After making sure that there was no one around, he asked, "Jiang Ning, where did you get so much money?"

Jiang Ning looked at the worry and anxiety in Liu Ming'an's eyes, and probably guessed what he was thinking. After thinking for a while, he decided to tell the truth.

"I saw the coach Zhao who sold me out, and followed him into the Jinyufang, a casino, and played a few rounds. I was lucky and won."

Listening to Jiang Ning's casual words, Liu Mingan didn't know what to say for a moment. Jiang

Ning comforted him again: "Don't worry, I won this money in public, and it's clean, just take it and use it."

"You won so much money, how could the people in the casino not make things difficult for you?"

Liu Mingan was completely worried. He knew that there were thugs in the casino, and there were even people who won a lot of money from the casino and died unclearly in the end.

"Heh!" Liu Ming'an's words reminded Jiang Ning of Monkey and Tiger. He couldn't help but sneer and continued, "Liu Ming'an, you underestimate me too much. Those rubbish raised by the casino can't hurt me."

Liu Ming'an looked at the faint murderous intent in Jiang Ning's eyes and was a little stunned. Jiang Ning looked so strange, which made him think of the person who was covered with scales but full of vigilance when he first met her.

"Jiang Ning, I'm still worried about you." Liu Ming'an frowned tightly. He couldn't imagine how Jiang Ning would deal with those tall and burly thugs.

Jiang Ning heard the coldness in his eyes and looked at Liu Ming'an seriously and said, "I promise you, I will be fine."

Seeing Jiang Ning's promise, Liu Ming'an could only sigh.

"Now that we have made things clear, let's go buy something."

Jiang Ning turned around and walked out. Just as he took a step forward, Liu Ming'an grabbed his arm.

"What's this Coach Zhao you mentioned? Why do you want to follow him?" Liu Ming'an thought of a new question.

"I want to know who I am, where my family is, why I am injured, and why I was sold? I want to know the answers to these questions, and the only way to start is to start with this Coach Zhao."

Liu Ming'an didn't speak for a long time. After a while, Jiang Ning heard him ask, "Do you want to ask clearly and then leave?"

His voice was much quieter, and he sounded a little depressed.

Jiang Ning looked at him steadily, and Liu Ming'an turned his face to the side in embarrassment and looked away.

"Liu Ming'an."

Liu Ming'an suddenly heard Jiang Ning calling his name, and then a hand reached out to him and clamped his chin, forcing him to turn his face back and look at Jiang Ning.

"Don't you want me to leave?" Jiang Ning's dark gray pupils reflected Liu Ming'an's somewhat embarrassed face. If you look closely, you can also find a faint smile in her eyes.

With the cool slender fingers hooking his chin, Liu Ming'an's breathing became disordered for a few beats. He tried to calm himself down before saying, "Yes, I don't want you to leave." Liu

Ming'an continued incoherently, "Of course, I'm also worried that you will be hurt again. After all, when I bought you back, your injuries were real. Even if you recover quickly, it will still hurt. Those who hurt you may not be satisfied seeing that you are intact, so they hurt you again. You have lost your memory again and can't tell good from bad..."

The hand on the chin was removed at some point, and Jiang Ning listened quietly with her hands folded. For the first time, she felt that this long-winded speech was not so annoying.

"Okay, I got it. I won't leave." Jiang Ning spoke slowly after Liu Ming'an finished speaking.

Her tone was not as cold and indifferent as before, but much softer.

Liu Ming'an looked straight at Jiang Ning and asked, "Really?"

"Have I ever lied to you?" Jiang Ning asked back.

"I don't know. You are so smart. Even if you lied to me, I wouldn't know." Liu Ming'an said a little depressed.

A little smile appeared in Jiang Ning's eyes, and the corners of her mouth could not help but bend upwards. Although her face was covered by a plain veil, her eyebrows and eyes were vivid. One could imagine the corners of her lips raised under the veil.

Jiang Ning was smiling.

Liu Ming'an thought about it, and his mood also became brighter, with a faint smile on his face unconsciously.

Jiang Ning reached into her arms again and took out a piece of silver and a pile of copper plates: "There are still some here, take them all, buy whatever you want, they are all yours."

"This is all your money, I can't

take it." Liu Ming'an refused, and even wanted to hand over the wooden box in his hand to Jiang Ning. "Don't talk nonsense! Just take it if I tell you to." Jiang Ning's attitude was tough, and Liu Ming'an had no choice but

to take the silver and copper plates, then took off the bag he was carrying and planned to put the wooden box in.

"Don't touch the gold first, take out all the silver and copper plates." Jiang Ning said again.

Liu Ming'an hesitated and said, "A total of five taels of silver, too much, you can't use it all, right?"

Jiang Ning insisted, "Where can you spend endless money? Take it all out!"

Liu Ming'an had to obey.

When the two of them returned to the street, Jiang Ning asked Liu Ming'an, "You said before that you wanted to buy pens, ink, paper and inkstone with the three taels of silver from me, right?"

"Yes."

Jiang Ning raised his chin and said, "You wanted to go to this store, right?"

Although it was a question, the tone was very firm.

Liu Mingan followed Jiang Ning's line of sight and saw a shop with exquisite decorations. It had three floors in total. On the top floor, there was a plaque with a few elegant characters: flying dragons and dancing phoenixes - Moxiang Pavilion.

The rigorous training that Jiang Ning received since childhood made her habitually pay attention to the things around her and remember the iconic people or objects. Whenever she arrived at a new place, she would observe quietly and secretly to ensure that she could grasp as much information about the unfamiliar environment as possible in the fastest time.

Therefore, from following Liu Mingan into Lingshan Town, to selling rabbits in the restaurant, to setting up a stall by the bridge, and then following Coach Zhao, and then leaving Jinyufang, during this period, Jiang Ning already knew the overall layout of Lingshan Town and the approximate distribution of store locations.

The "Moxiang Pavilion" in front of her should be the largest place selling pens, ink, paper and inkstones in Lingshan Town.

"How did you know that I wanted to go to Moxiang Pavilion at that time?" Liu Mingan was surprised.

"I guessed it."

"How did you guess it?" Liu Mingan was really curious and kept asking.

Jiang Ning didn't have much patience, but standing here, she couldn't help but think of the miserable situation she had just come to this world. Fortunately, she met this person in front of her and suffered less. So she took a deep breath and patiently began to tell Liu Mingan:

"The place where Coach Zhao sold me is at the intersection of East and West Long Streets and North Street. There are the most people there and the place is the widest. And the bridge where you set up your stall is at the end of East Street. If you want to go home, you just need to walk west along East Street to the intersection with South Street and then go south. That's the road we take to enter Lingshan Town. On your way home, there are five small shops selling pens, ink, paper and inkstones. Moxiang Pavilion is on North Street. If you didn't come to Moxiang Pavilion specifically, you would never have met me."

"Besides..." Jiang Ning slowed down his tone and continued, "Although I don't know about prices, a letter from you costs ten cents, and a painting costs eighty cents. From this, I can infer that the letter paper and painting scroll you bought must be common and cheap. I have also ground ink for you many times, and your brushes, inkstones, and ink sticks are not worth three taels of silver for you to buy. Therefore, when you brought three taels of silver that day, you must have saved money for a long time and wanted to buy better quality paper and pens. In the entire Lingshan Town, only a store like Moxiang Pavilion would sell pens, ink, paper, and inkstones worth three taels of silver. Other small stores can only make a small profit and sell widely."

To Liu Mingan, this inference was like throwing a stone into calm water, which caused a thousand ripples. As the saying goes, a small thing can reveal a big thing, and a small thing can reveal a big thing. Jiang Ning figured out the situation of Lingshan Town in such a short time, and accurately analyzed Liu Mingan's behavior at that time. This insight and sharp mind are far beyond the reach of ordinary people.

"Jiang Ning, you are so smart." Liu Mingan murmured for a long time.

"Thank you."

Jiang Ning knew that her analysis would impress Liu Mingan and even make him re-evaluate her, but she didn't care. She just wanted to expose her true self to him bit by bit.